Fairhaven resident witnessed aftermath on Boylston Street

Thursday

Apr 18, 2013 at 10:45 AM

FAIRHAVEN — Kayleigh Rock, a resident of Fairhaven, went to the annual Red Sox Patriot's Day game, which started around 11 a.m., with a crew of coworkers from Dublin's Restaurant in New Bedford on a rented school bus. She said that towards the end of the game, the crew headed over to a bar on Boylston Street called "Who's on First," and that shortly after arriving there, the hysteria began.

Nick Walecka

FAIRHAVEN — Kayleigh Rock, a resident of Fairhaven, went to the annual Red Sox Patriot's Day game, which started around 11 a.m., with a crew of coworkers from Dublin's Restaurant in New Bedford on a rented school bus. She said that towards the end of the game, the crew headed over to a bar on Boylston Street called "Who's on First," and that shortly after arriving there, the hysteria began.

"People started to get a little hysterical and pointing to the TV and yelling out that people were killed right down the street," she said. "My phone kept ringing at that point with friends and family calling to make sure I was okay."

At that point, Ms. Rock said that her bosses from Dublin's were determined to get out of Boston as soon as possible because of continued reports coming in about other bombs being found in the city and an incident at the JFK Library. She said that they waited outside on Boylston Street for almost an hour for the bus to get to them. It was at that point that they began to witness more of the mayhem.

"We had a clear view of the Prudential Center and the helicopter hovering above it as well as all the ambulances and police vehicles rushing by," she said. "People were walking around all upset, covered in marathon blankets, looking stunned and trying to get in touch with loved ones. Many people we spoke to did not get to finish the race. People were scared and shocked."

She said it took them about three hours to get home from Boston, which was another whole experience in itself. "It was really scary trying to get out of Boston," Ms. Rock said. "We didn't know exactly what was going on and we kept hearing that bombs were still being found and going off. There could have been a bomb on our bus, or on our route home, or in Fenway for that matter.

"We stopped at a rest stop as soon as we got out of Boston and everyone was relieved. It felt surreal to look around at my friends and just feel thankful that we all made it out all right. Our day of coworker bonding, sun, drinks and Sox turned into a day of terror and senseless tragedy. I still can't believe we were right there."